Former backyard griller now has global aspirations

Over the past seven
years, Pimento Jamaican Kitchen has become a Twin Cities fixture for Jamaican
cuisine with locations on both sides of the river. This includes its flagship
Minneapolis’ Eat Street location, as well as a new restaurant that just opened
in St. Paul this past weekend.

Armed with a $100 tent,
his grandmother’s recipes, and a grill from his backyard, Tomme Beevas got his
start in 2012. “We brought [the grill] to the Bryn Mawr garage sale without a
clue as to what would happen.”

He served food for free
in exchange for customer feedback and social media sign-ups. “From there, we
tweaked the menu and built a grassroots network.”

The next year, Beevas
won a Food Network reality show that included free restaurant operations for a
year at the Burnsville Center. “That’s how we ended up getting our own
restaurant,” he said. “Eventually, we were able to open up our Eat Street
location and at the TCF Bank Stadium, have our food truck, our rum bar, and our
backyard bar. Now we’re pleased to be on the other side of the river in Saint Paul
at the Keg and Case Market.”

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The MSR sat down
with Beevas to learn more about his journey from backyard griller to restaurant
boss.

MSR: What inspired you to
get into the food business?

Tomme Beevas: The inspiration comes
from me being able to share my grandma Baby Lue’s recipes with my neighbors and
newly adopted community in Minnesota. Every day, I’d come home from my
corporate job tired, stressed out, and I’d fire up the grill to relax. The
neighbors would be there every single day. Then one day we were, like, “Let’s
test out this concept and see how it goes.”

MSR: What is your main
product?

TB: Jerk chicken is our top
seller.

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MSR: How did you choose
the new location in Saint Paul?

TB: Pimento strives to be
the global premier provider of Jamaican food experiences. We knew that in order
to do that we had to expand beyond Minneapolis. When Keg and Case Market
approached us, it made perfect sense because it was an area that was already
bringing together the community and other like-minded businesses.

MSR: What’s your vision
and goal for where you want to take your business?

TB: After we figure out the
Minneapolis and Saint Paul area, then we figure out how do we best take it
nationally. Is it a franchise model? Is it owning all of them? Is it taking on
other investors?

We do know that we have
the opportunity and that we have investors from around the country and, in
fact, around the world who have expressed interest. We want to be able to build
it smart and grow wisely.

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MSR: How does your
business impact the community?

TB: Our business impacts
the community first and foremost by providing authentic Jamaican culture to
those who either don’t know or those who are avid fans. When they come here to
Pimentos, they feel safe and know that it is a space that you can come to no
matter who you are and follow our mantra: “Don’t worry, eat happy.”

We offer a safe space for guests, we
offer
healthy food that feeds their body, and we offer a space that feeds
their spirit with the Jamaican vibe.

MSR: Besides food, how
else are you serving the community?

TB: One of the things that
we want to make sure people are aware of this summer is a Jama Market. It’s a
principle for collective economics. We’re providing a space in our backyard
where small startups can come — like a farmer’s market — and promote their
goods and services for free.

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Our guests can come, learn about these businesses, and
invest in them as well. Whether it’s you selling your perfumes or you selling
your art, we want to make the space available for startup entrepreneurs to be
able to use the safe space for Pimento to help start their businesses.

MSR: What’s your biggest
challenge so far in owning a business?

TB: The biggest challenge
so far, without a doubt, has to be access to capital. As a restaurant, let
alone as a Black-owned restaurant, access to capital is very limited.
Thankfully, we’ve been able to do it very slowly and intentionally. We’ve been
able to grow using what little funds we could find. Thanks to groups like MCCD
[Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers], MEDA [Metropolitan Economic
Development Association], and Sunrise Bank, we’ve been able to get the seed
funding to continue to grow.

MSR: Financing has been a
major challenge for most of the Black businesses we’ve interviewed. Do you know
any Black-owned businesses that have gotten a loan through a bank outside of
MCCD, MEDA or Sunrise Bank?

TB: You can quote me:
“silence.” I’m literally thinking, and I cannot think of one that has not used,
for lack of a better term, “charity funding” through the nonprofit
organizations. No, unfortunately, and I know many Black business owners.

MSR: What’s been the most
rewarding part of owning a business for you?

TB: The most rewarding part
is providing opportunities for those that normally wouldn’t have them. Not just
job opportunities, but well-paid job opportunities and well-paid advancement
opportunities. Our approach is about taking those [needing such opportunities]
from our communities and having them be a part of the ground floor of a startup
that is aiming to be global.

MSR: What advice do you
have for aspiring entrepreneurs?

TB: Take your time and do
it small. That is not advice that I would have taken when I was starting, but I
was forced to take it eventually. When they say, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,”
that is the truest advice in the entrepreneurial world.

At Pimento, we started
off
with a $100 tent and the grill from my backyard. We grew and invested $3,000 at
the end of the summer into buying our first box truck to move our grill and
tent around town. From that, we grew incrementally day after day after day.

The other piece of
advice would be to start where you are right now and be gentle with yourself.
Don’t take it personally when you’re given advice. You’ll get there one day at
a time.

MSR: Is there a legacy you
want to leave?

TB: I’m building from my
grandmother Baby Lue’s legacy — she was a legend. She was able to become the
first Black millionaire woman out of West Kingston, Jamaica. She was very
community-minded, and she helped other businesses grow within that community.

I was able to watch her
grow her empire. I was able to see that and use it as the inspiration to start
to my own.

MSR: Are there any deals
that readers can take advantage of?

TB: We have deals going on all the time. To find out about the deals,
you can follow us on Facebook at Pimento Kitchen.

Pimento Jamaican Kitchen is located at 2524 Nicollet Ave. in Mpls. and at Keg and Case West 7th Market, located at 928 West Seventh Street in St. Paul. For more info, visit https://pimentokitchen.com.